Warm Memories of Gingerbread, Family - Sort Of

Article excerpt

I was reminded of this recently when a woman from a charitable
organization called and asked if I would decorate a gingerbread
house again this year.

"Of course," I said.

This particular organization, the Assistance League, sponsors a
Gingerbread Village each year during the holiday season. Pastry
chefs from various restaurants and hotels build elaborate
gingerbread structures. Politicians and people from the media are
given kits for gingerbread houses.

Then people pay to tour the village, and eventually the
structures and houses are auctioned off. The money goes to
worthwhile causes.

But the real reason I was delighted to be included in this
year's Gingerbread Village had little to do with worthwhile causes.
The truth is, it's fun to decorate a gingerbread house.

Mom and Dad and the kids, sitting around the kitchen table,
decorating the gingerbread house. What could better capture the
mood of the holiday season?

I mentioned my vision to my wife. I explained that the
gingerbread house was becoming a family tradition.

She gave me a puzzled look.

"What do you remember about last year's house?" she asked.

I chuckled. I remember the cat eating the house, I said.

Yes, we did have a minor disaster last year. We had bought a
cat at Soulard Market, and the cat had jumped on to the kitchen
table while we were asleep and had gnawed a large hole in our
gingerbread house.

I don't know who was more upset - my wife or the dog.

Oh, he was angry! He's a pug, and he lives to eat. To his way
of thinking, it was horribly unfair that the cat, who merely likes
to eat, had been blessed with such jumping ability. Had the dog
been able to jump on to the table, he'd have done more than gnaw a
hole in the gingerbread house.

So, yes, I assured my wife, I remember the cat eating the
house. But it is precisely these little disasters that build family
traditions. Our grandchildren will probably hear the story about
the cat and our first gingerbread house, I said.

My wife still looked puzzled. I'm not talking about the cat,
she said. I'm asking you what you remember about decorating the
gingerbread house. …